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Senate wants MKO Abiola recognised as former president, official announcement of June 12 election results

The Nigerian
Senate on Thursday resolved to take President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration a
step further by asking that the official result of the June 12,1993
presidential election be announced.

The June 12
election is considered one of the freest and fairest in Nigeria’s history. It
is believed to have been won by late Moshood Abiola and his running mate
Babagana Kingibe. The election was annulled before final results were
officially announced. Mr Abiola was eventually jailed by the Sani Abacha
military dictatorship for seeking to actualise his mandate. He died in prison
in 1998.

President
Buhari on Wednesday decided to honour Mr Abiola by declaring June 12 as
Nigeria’s new Democracy Day. It was formally May 29. The president also
declared that Mr Abiola would be given Nigeria’s highest national honour, GCFR,
while Mr Kingibe would be given the second highest, GCON.

On Thursday,
the Senate while largely supporting the president’s announcement, however,
insisted May 29 will continue to be the hand-over date for presidents of
Nigeria.

The
lawmakers after a lengthy deliberation on the president’s announcement agreed
that an alteration of the handover date will require a constitutional
amendment.

Since 1999
when the country returned to civil rule, Nigeria has celebrated May 29 as
Democracy Day. The date, after every four years, also doubles as the day for
the inauguration of newly elected presidents and many state governors.

First to
raise the issue on Thursday was Lanre Tejuosho (Ogun-APC) who commended Mr
Buhari for the announcements while urging him to also reconcile with the
Legislature.

Having come
under order 43 of the Senate standing order, the matter was not open for
discussion.

Coming under
order 42 and 52, Biodun Olujimi (Ekiti-PDP), re-opened the issue to allow
contributions. While commending Mr Buhari for the move, she wants him to do
more in legalising the gesture

“For once, I
want to thank the President of Nigeria. I want to say he has done well. This is
one time that the President has given a thought to what (Moshood) Abiola and
his family went through to fight for this democracy that we enjoy today.

“Going
further, there are issues to be addressed so that we can be confident that this
is not a Greek gift.”

She prayed
the Independent National Electoral Commission to announce the result of the
June 12, 1983 election officially, grant entitlements to the winners, recognise
Babagana Kingibe as a former vice president and the executive declare June 12 a
public holiday.

Mr Kingibe
was running mate to Mr Abiola in the June 12, 1993 election. Mr Buhari on
Wednesday announced that Mr Abiola would be conferred with Nigeria’s highest
national honour, GCFR, while Mr Kingibe would be conferred with the second
highest honour, GCON.

After Ms.
Olujimi’s speech, next was Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, who called on his
colleagues to continue ‘to support the government to further entrench
democracy.’

Deputy
Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the gesture comes with legal issues
which the president must address.

“They are now saying June 12 is now Democracy
Day, proposing that in 2019, the president will now be sworn in on the 12th of
June. This is illegally impossible.

“A president
shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years he took the
oath of office.

“The
implication is that 29th of May remains the date the president will be
inaugurated and take oath of office. If they are moving from May 29 to June 12,
it means we have to amend this constitution.

“Otherwise,
we will be extending tenure of a president beyond what the constitution
contemplates. We have to advise the president properly so that we won’t enter a
jam next year. We cannot extend it to June 12 without extending the
Constitution.”

Enyinnaya
Abaribe (Abia-PDP) said he wants President Muhammadu Buhari to declare December
31 as Democracy Destruction Day to mark a coup he championed to end the tenure
of a democratically elected government in 1983.

“Finally, I
want to also propose another day since we are now moving in the right
direction, saying that democracy is needed, I want to propose that we also
designate 31st December as Democracy destruction day because that was the day
that this same president did a coup,” he said.

He was,
however, shouted down by APC senators who felt his choice of words was
offensive.

Mr Abaribe
was formally cut short by his colleague, Barau Jibrin (Kano-APC), who raised a
point of order to call the attention of the Senate to a derailment from issue
being discussed. The point of order was sustained.

The chamber
was taken into another slight rowdiness when Dino Melaye (Kogi-APC) announced
that Mr Abiola is not a Nigerian and cannot be granted such honour.

He said, “I
am a democrat, I believe very sincerely that Chief M.K.O Abiola deserve even
more than the President have pronounced because he is a true patriot,
philanthropist and should be sole decorated. But Mr. President, we are governed
in the country by the constitution and extant laws. No matter how beautiful a
situation is, the law of the land remains the law of the land.”

He went
further to read a section of chapter 43 of the National Honours Act which he
believed buttresses his point.

“Subsection
2 of the act says a person shall be eligible for appointment to any rank or
holder unless he is a citizen of Nigeria. A dead man is not a citizen of the
federal republic of Nigeria. We should not be emotional about this. The law
remains the law.”

Mr Melaye’s
interpretation is however novel and not backed by any known judicial
interpretation.

Mr Melaye
also argued that the act provides that such honour be conferred on the
recipient in person and since Mr Abiola is dead, he cannot receive the award; a
similar claim to that made by a former chief justice of Nigeria, Alfa Belgore.

He added
that the constitution must be altered to make Mr Buhari’s decision hold.

The Senate
adopted five prayers including that the result of the June 12, 1993 election
must be announced, all allowances and entitlement be paid to Mr Abiola as a
former president and Mr Kingibe as a former vice president, Mr Kingibe be
recognised as former vice president and that June 12 be declared public
holiday.

The
lawmakers also resolved that May 29 remains the day for inauguration of
presidents of Nigeria as June 12 date will mean tenure elongation which is
against the constitution.

The Senate
President, Bukola Saraki, in his comment urged his colleagues to look away from
the imperfections and first commend Mr Buhari for the decision.

“We need to be guided. I think the whole
essence of this discussion was to recognise the fact that Chief MKO Abiola, his
contributions, what he had been through, his tribulations.

“For many
years, it was long overdue. The good intention is what we should recognise.
There might be imperfectons in how it was implemented but let us for today take
the good intention.

“The other
issues, I’m not saying they are wrong or right. Whether the award is right, the
process, constitutional amendment to recognition of Babagana Kingibe’ position
as Vice President, the process of making June 12 a public holiday.

“In the
spirit of all those imperfections, we should not allow that to cloud what Chief
M.K.O Abiola is,” he said.

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